Quotes

In every age 'the good old days' were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them.

People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.

Vaudeville is a specialized technique that cannot be trifled with. Far from being an inferior form of entertainment, as some people snobbishly assume, it is a distinctive style with laws of its own. Fundamentally, it requires performers magnetic enough to dominate an enclosed area on s stage. They must be so exuberant or skillful that they can capture an audience's attention instantly and hold it until the act is over. Vaudeville is a form of free, bold, crisp and dynamic showmanship. Since it died, one devilish mechanical device has crept into show business that is completely anti-vaudeville in effect. The microphone freezes everyone who stands behind it.